While Princess Norn was considering how to get Freyja aboard this Thieves' Ship as well, someone in the Country of Summoning was thinking about the same thing.
"From the looks of things, we have to take action..."
Looking at the intelligence report in her hands, the woman seated on the throne let out a quiet sigh. She was none other than the Queen of the Country of Summoning—Mirellia Q. Melromarc.
In truth, King Aultcray XXXII did not possess much authority in the Country of Summoning. Real power was held by Mirellia, the Queen. When the King summoned the Heroes, Mirellia and the second princess, Melty, were abroad, so they had no idea what had happened. They only learned the details after returning.
Of course, because the King, the first princess, and their guards had all been replaced by shadows by Duanmu Huai, the situation the Queen knew naturally differed from what had originally happened. However, the shadows had not lied about everything. Instead, they had confessed most of the truth to the Queen. They only changed the final outcome—Duanmu Huai killing the King, the princess, and all their personal guards—into Duanmu Huai defeating them. Under Duanmu Huai's threat, the King had agreed to deal with the first princess and had handed over military authority to Duanmu Huai as a gesture of goodwill.
Incidentally, the first princess's Shadow had supposedly been exiled by the King afterward, but in reality, she had been sent to her death. Once a Shadow died, not even a corpse would remain, so no one would ever find that woman again.
However, the Queen had no time to worry about her troublesome eldest daughter. There was something giving her an even bigger headache right now.
That was the relationship between Duanmu Huai and the Country of Summoning!